J. P. Moreland Distinguishes Between Two Kinds of Judging

Almost everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike, knows of Jesus’ teaching, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Mt 7:1). I have addresses the proper interpretation of this passage elsewhere in my treatment of judgmentalism, but I recently read some brief comments by J. P. Moreland on the matter that I found helpful as well. Moreland writes:

[W]e need to distinguish two senses of judging: condemning and evaluating. The former is wrong and is in view in Matthew 7. When Jesus says not to judge, he means it in the sense that the Pharisees judged others: their purpose was to condemn the person judged and to elevate themselves above that person. Now this is a form of self-righteous blindness that vv. 2-4 explicitly forbid. Such judgment is an expression of a habitual approach to life of avoiding self-examination and repentance and, instead, propping oneself up by putting others down.[1]

The distinction between moral condemnation and moral evaluation is an important one. We cannot and must not avoid moral evaluations. Such are necessary and good. What we must avoid are moral condemnations of people that elevate our own sense of moral superiority and blind us to our own moral inadequacies.

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One Response to “J. P. Moreland Distinguishes Between Two Kinds of Judging”

One thing I’ve found tricky here is that some folks imagine the Pharisees as pompous, exaggerated caricatures walking around and proclaiming their righteousness and turning their noses up at others. While some of this might have been the case, it becomes all-to-easy to say, “Well, I am nothing like that caricature, and thus the judging I am doing is mere evaluation, not condemnation.”

Our brains are stimulated by many neurochemicals, one of which is dopamine. Among the many things to which dopamine is correlated is feelings of validation and validation-seeking. This can manifest itself folks who match the “Pharisee caricature” to a T, but can also manifest itself subtly in the things and positions upon which we stake claims. When that happens, we may be waving a flag of pride behind our backs, but we’re still waving a flag of pride. When that happens, though we may tell others that our judgments are “mere evaluations,” and they may even accept that, those judgments are actually condemnations. They’re little dopamine victories over people you believe, perhaps just subconsciously, are inferior or broken in a way you aren’t.

So, that’s the danger to watch out for here. Never underestimate the human capacity to rationalize their way onto the “acceptable” side of any contested action.

Romans 2:1

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”